The Canton Confederation is one of the four major splinter states resulting from the former People's Republic of China. Consisting of the former provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian, as well as the city-state of Macao, the Confederation is the most economically powerful of the former Chinese states, but its weak-confederation system often leads to political infighting, resulting in an incoherent and sometimes self-contradicting foreign policy.

Spis treści

The Confederation originated from a trade alliance between the southeastern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Zhejiang, calling itself the Greater Canton Economic Development Council. Nominally the Council was responsible for dealing with the increased foreign investment and economic boom caused by the Resource Rush, allowing the member provinces to coordinate economic deals with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as their connections through Chinese emigrants to southeast Asia, Hawai’i and the United States. Although it paid lip service to the People's Republic, the Council effectively took charge of all day-to-day responsibilities, effectively weakening Beijing's influence over the region. Since the Council was bringing in money and at least appearing to show loyalty, the Chinese government turned a blind eye to all this, so that they could focus on more immediate problems in the western provinces.

After the secession of Hong Kong and the earthquake that buried the majority of China's arsenal in the Tai-Hei Mountains, the Council saw its opportunity and declared its independence from China, renaming itself as the Canton Confederation. The Confederation extended invitations to both Taiwan and Macao to join; Macao accepted the invitation, while Taiwan rebuffed them. Nevertheless, trade had made both the Confederation and Taiwan co-dependent on each other, so an uneasy truce formed between the two.

That truce fell apart in 2040, however, when the resurgent Nationalist Party seized power in Taiwan, as well as the provinces of coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, as well as certain micro-states in the Coastal Provinces. The Taiwan-based party had been secretly sponsoring reunification policlubs in the Confederation, and its electoral success in 2040 represented its attempt to seize power.

The Confederation declared war on this breakaway alliance, and civil war erupted mostly on the Nationalists’ turf. After two years the Confederation recaptured Fujian and began massing forces to invade the rest. Two assaults against Taiwan failed. Meanwhile, to the west, Liang Hong had seized power in Sichuan, and the new regime threatened the Confederation’s western borders.

Caught in a tight place, the Confederation negotiated a truce with Taiwan. Under its terms, Fujian returned to the Confederation fold, while the Confederation relinquished territory seized from Zhejiang. Taiwan was recognized as an independent state, while Shanghai owed reparations to the Confederation.

The war cost plenty for all involved. Zhejiang fractured under war reparations, and its remnant states became yet more micro-nations in the coastal region. Meanwhile, the Confederation economy sagged under reconstruction, forcing Canton to abandon its regional presence and allowing the Imperial Japanese Navy to move into Southeast Asia.

Between 2044 and 2061 the Canton Confederation shrank from the limelight as the Japanacorps, backed by the Japanese Imperial Navy, exerted control over southeast Asia. However, after Wuxing's ascension to the Corporate Court and the recall of Japanese troops back to Japan after a massive earthquake wiped out most of Japan, the balance of power shifted in the Confederation's favor, which it used to start building up its fleet. The Confederation had a chance to show off its strength in 2062, when an underwater mining dispute between Wuxing and Shiawase resulted in an international incident that brought both the Confederation and Vietnam into involvement. As of 2064 this dispute has not yet been resolved.

2006: The provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Zhejiang form the Greater Canton Economic Development Council, to deal with the increased foreign investment and economic boom caused by the Resource Rush.

2017: A major earthquake hits the Tai-Hei mountain range, which also serves as China’s main nuclear weapons stockpile. The quake triggers several underground nuclear detonations, which collapse the entire underground arsenal. Aftershocks reverberate throughout northern China; one creates deep crevasses in Tiananmen Square and topples several monuments.

2018: The member provinces of the Greater Canton Economic Development Council secede from China, and the Council transforms into the Canton Confederation. Sichuan, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia also withdraw, effectively cutting off western China from Beijing and prompting the western regions to secede. These sudden losses force a coup in Beijing, as reformers throw the Communist Party out of power. The rump nation is renamed the Republic of China.

2064: The Confederation grants permission to Wuxing to conduct undersea exploration offshore from the Paracel Islands. While there, Wuxing discovers that Shiawase is present conducting undersea mining of manganese nodules, with rights granted from Vietnam. Wuxing files a grievance in Admiralty Court. The Confederation deploys warships into the area as a show of intimidation against Shiawase and the Vietnamese.

As the name implies, the Confederation is a decentralized coalition of its member provinces. The central confederation government still maintains control over the military, legislature and infrastructure (roads, power grids and such). However, the member provinces still possess the right to govern their own economic policies and trade regulation. The confederation may arbitrate to smooth out differences in policy between member provinces, but the final right still remains with the province.

As expected, this type of decentralized confederation often leads to political gridlock, as the member provinces bicker with the central government, along with each other. The megacorps often use this arrangement to strike separate deals with provincial governments, so as to undercut the Confederation’s power.